Posted on September 27, 2022 at 17:41
Pressured to act in the face of the aging population, the government promises to invest in favor of the elderly, within the framework of the Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS) for 2023 presented this Monday. But the promised measures leave the actors of the accompaniment of the elderly and the parliamentarians hungry.
The draft budget is “an ambitious text in a context of restricted public finances”, defended the Minister of Solidarity, Jean-Christophe Combe, in the Assembly on Monday night. In fact, spending on institutions and services for the elderly will increase by more than 5% next year.
This represents an additional budget of 800 million euros compared to 2022. With the means put on the table for people with disabilities, there are an additional 1,500 million euros committed to autonomy.
very low start
A significant effort according to several actors in the sector. “It is an ambitious PLFSS,” acknowledges Antoine Perrin, leader of the Federation of Private Solidarity Hospitals and Personal Assistance Establishments (Fehap).
In detail, the budget plans to release 170 million euros to hire in nursing homes, today due to the shortage of nurses and caregivers. This sum should make it possible to finance 3,000 positions when Emmanuel Macron had promised a plan to hire 50,000 nurses and caregivers during the presidential campaign.
However, “we are starting very low” in relation to the objectives, says Alain Raoul, president of Nexem, which represents the associative actors of the medical-social sector, although he salutes the effort made in the PLFSS.
“Where is the funding planned for the next few years to meet the commitments of 50,000 jobs? », asks Marc Bourquin for his part to the Hospital Federation of France.
“It is not with half a job more in the 7,000 Ehpad in France that working conditions will improve,” launched the Minister of Solidarity, the Socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj, on Monday night.
The government is all the more expected on the subject of the elderly in its budget since it has not announced a law on “old age”, as the professionals longed for.
late application
The Social Security budget project must also allow financing “up to two additional hours of social life” for the elderly. The idea, mentioned during the presidential campaign, is to prevent the loss of autonomy and “strengthen the attractiveness” of home care professions.
The measure should affect some 780,000 people but should not, however, come into force before 2024. Because the executive must discuss its implementation methods with the departments.
This provision “represents an important step forward”, greeted the representative federation of personal service companies (FESP) on Tuesday. On the other hand, the organization deplores its “restricted perimeter” and its “late implementation”. Believing that the Government “will lose the residential shift”, he urges to go further by increasing the amounts of aid to deal with the loss of autonomy and disability (APA and PCH),
Budget increase for salaries
However, those involved in supporting the elderly and people with disabilities were heard about many of their concerns. For the voluntary sector, the government has committed to funding increases for establishment employees, to take into account the increase in the index point in the public service (by 3.5%).
Concerned about the effects of inflation on their energy bills, provision of services, establishments in the medical-social sector also obtained an extension to cushion the shock. The Government has also promised to provide nursing homes with the “shield” that individuals enjoy so as not to suffer the onslaught of rising energy prices.